Security Guard Bill Rate Calculator
Most new security companies price from the guard's wage and lose money on every hour. Enter your numbers to see what one hour of coverage really costs you and the rate you need to charge.
How this is worked out
Every cost is allocated to the job in front of you: take the annual cost and divide it by the annual billable hours for that job. That is how our own costing manual works each of its examples, and it is more truthful than a flat burden percentage when one contract is a quiet lobby and the next is a construction site.
Finding your local wage
The wage is the foundation of everything below it, and it is regional. The national median wage for security guards was $38,020 a year in May 2025 — about $18.28 an hour over 2,080 hours — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the default above, and it is a starting point, not your number. To find yours: call other security companies in your area and ask about a job, ask your state labour department what guards are currently paid locally, look your state up in the BLS data, or ask anyone you know in law enforcement or the industry.
Margin is not markup
Multiplying your cost by 11% and adding it on does not give you an 11% margin — it gives you about 9.9%. To actually keep 11% of the invoice you divide by 0.89. The calculator shows both so you can see the gap, because pricing off the markup number is the most common way a bid that looked profitable isn't.
Relief staffing
A 40-hour post is not one officer. If your only officer is already at 40 hours, the first call-off is overtime. Staffing to fewer hours each means a colleague can cover a shift inside their own 40 — which is why the calculator sizes the crew on a target of 32 hours rather than 40, and why uniforms are costed per officer hired rather than per post.
Questions about the numbers
What is employer burden, and what goes into it?
Burden is everything you pay on top of the wage for the same hour of work: employer Social Security and Medicare at 7.65%, federal unemployment tax, state unemployment tax, and workers' compensation. It is not optional and it is not overhead — it scales with every hour you sell, which is why it belongs in the cost of a billed hour rather than in your operating expenses.
Why isn't my bill rate just my cost plus a percentage?
Because adding a percentage to cost gives you a markup, not a margin. Adding 20% to a $25 cost gives $30, and the profit in that $30 is $5 — which is 16.7% of the invoice, not 20%. To actually keep 20% you divide by 0.80 and charge $31.25. The calculator shows both numbers side by side because pricing off the markup figure is the most common way a contract that looked profitable isn't.
How many officers does a 24/7 post actually need?
A 168-hour week is more than four full-time people once you allow for relief. If every officer is already scheduled to 40 hours, the first call-off is overtime, so the calculator sizes the crew on a lower target per person and shows both that figure and the bare minimum. It also counts the extra hires your turnover rate implies, because uniforms, onboarding and a fresh unemployment-tax wage base come with each one.
What workers' compensation rate should I enter?
The rate on your own quote, expressed as dollars per $100 of payroll. It varies by state and by class code, and for guard work it is one of the largest single items in the build-up — so a figure borrowed from someone else's state can be badly wrong in either direction. If you do not have a quote yet, published ranges for security work are wide; use the low end to see the best case and the high end to see whether the contract still works.
Does this work for armed posts and mobile patrol?
Yes. Changing the post type adjusts the workers' compensation starting point and, for mobile patrol, adds a vehicle cost per patrol hour. Armed work usually carries a higher wage as well as a higher comp rate, so set the wage to what you will actually pay rather than leaving the default.
When does the Service Contract Act apply to my bid?
On federal service contracts where a wage determination is incorporated into the solicitation. When it applies, the wage determination sets a minimum hourly rate and a health and welfare fringe paid on hours worked up to 40 a week, and you price from those figures rather than from the local market. The only rates that bind you are the ones on the wage determination in your own solicitation, which is why the calculator takes them as inputs instead of assuming them.
Defaults are examples, not recommendations. Get your state unemployment rate from your state workforce agency, and your workers' comp and general liability figures from your own quotes. Fixed rates used above: employer FICA 7.65% (IRS Topic 751); federal unemployment 0.6% on the first $7,000 (IRS Topic 759); overtime at 1.5× (DOL). This is a planning tool, not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Professionally prepared templates, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state — have an attorney review before use.
